If SB 1000 passes the Assembly and is signed by the governor, every can and bottle of soda sold in California must carry a warning label. WILFREDO LEE, AP

California would become the first state in the nation to require warning labels on most sugar-sweetened nonalcoholic beverages, including soft drinks, under a bill approved in the state Senate on Thursday.

SB1000, passed by a 21-13 vote, now goes to the Assembly. The vote fell along party lines, as only Democrats voted for it and only Republicans opposed.

If the bill passes the Assembly (which Democrats control 24-13, not counting three Democrats who are suspended) and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signs it into law, all beverages that contain added sugar and have at least 75 calories per 12 ounces would have to carry the warning label on the front of the packaging by July 1, 2015.

Retailers and restaurants that serve the beverages in fountains would have to place a warning label on the front of the machine, and vending machines also would have to carry the label. Beverages that contain 100 percent natural fruit juice would not fall under the law, but energy drinks with high enough levels of sugar would.

A spokesman for Brown said in an email that generally the office does not comment on pending legislation.

The California Center for Public Health Advocacy, which sponsored the bill along with Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, called the measure a “major step toward warning people about the profoundly harmful effects of consuming liquid sugar,” according to a statement by the group’s founder, Harold Goldstein. “SB1000 supports consumers’ right to know the facts about diabetes, undiluted by beverage industry spin.”

In an interview earlier this month, for a story on the evolution of giant sodas in America, Goldstein said research has shown that the body processes “liquid sugar” in soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages more quickly than sugar in solid foods. He said the liver is forced to store the excess sugar, leading to liver disease and diabetes.

“You might notice that the beverage industry in all these discussions doesn’t mention diabetes very much,” Goldstein said. “They’d like to mention that in obesity, all calories are the same. Sugar calories aren’t the same: To consume liquid sugar, we absorb it directly into the bloodstream in literally 30 minutes. A candy bar takes hours to digest.”

CalBev, the trade association that represents California’s nonalcoholic beverage industry, said more than 500 beverages would fall under the requirement, but that it would do nothing to “change personal behaviors or teach people about healthy lifestyles.”

“The last thing California needs is more warning labels,” the group said in a statement.

The soda industry has fought hard against all manner of restrictions and taxes that have been put to voters in California, but the tide of public opinion might be turning. In February, a statewide Field Poll showed that two-thirds of respondents supported a penny-an-ounce tax on soda, as long as the money went toward nutrition and physical fitness programs for children. Seventy-four percent favored a labeling requirement like Monning’s bill.

If the bill becomes law, however, it might be difficult to enforce. The version of the bill that cleared a Senate committee allocated funds for the state Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to implement the measure. But in the final version that passed Thursday, that line was removed. It will be up to “local enforcement agencies” to ensure compliance.

Dr. Patricia Riba, a pediatrician who specializes in childhood obesity and nutrition, says she hopes the bill, if it becomes law, will help de-normalize soda as a widely consumed snack for children.

"Hopefully this bill will start making the same kind of difference as tobacco warnings have done," she said in an e-mail. "Hopefully the next generation of kids will find an image of a child drinking a soda as offensive and wrong as a child smoking a cigarette."

She sees children and families at three "Dr. Riba's Health Club" locations: the YMCA in Santa Ana; the HOPE Clinic in Costa Mesa; and San Juan Pediatrics.

"Sugary drinks and processed foods are poisoning our children's bodies," she added. "The first step in treating childhood obesity in my practice is to get sugary drinks out of the house."

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